Use your imagination

Standing beneath the open sky I am always taken aback by the vastness of that not-so-distant sea. Its cotton candy clouds drift lazily across a frontier of endless possibilities; each marauding traveler weaving its way along an unknowable course, chartered by unfathomable kingdoms. Even at the most mundane of moments, I find myself drawn into the cerulean depths of that mammoth universe, both longing for the unknowable freedom associated with it, and humbled by the fear such a leviathan inspires within my pigmy-like form.

I am taken back to the nostalgia of my childhood, when stories of chivalry and adventure, dragons and lost realms occupied and inspired in me a sense of imaginative hope for incredible things. It seems odd now, to dwell on such infantile ideas; the years have done well to jade my attitudes and narrow my mind. yet even now, the sky, so vast and unknowable, stirs old feelings in my bones and calls forth that long lost desire for adventure. At every turn I begin to see the world in a different way, as though I had never, up to this point, recognized my surroundings for what they truly are. The epic quests, the damsels in distress, the sacred call to action and the incorruptible hero don't seem so far away. These ideas, so cavalier to the adult mind, yet so frustratingly simple through the eyes of the child, are suddenly given just as much validity as any scientific fact the world has eve known. A universe of possibilities opens before my eyes and I am reminded that it is not that the imagination dies over the years, it is simply that we forget how to use it. The more we let slip the chains stemming from preconceived notions of what it means to "grow up", the more we are able to see the magical and unexplainable world of the imagination in the world all around us. By letting go of everything I "think" I know about the world, I am able to envision a universe where anything is possible, and in an instant I am transported to the role of pirate, knight, wizard, king, and villain; I am all people in all places at all times. I am free from the rat-race, the bills, the stress of everyday life and I am able to use the imagination as a key to a doorway to infinite possibility. I am able to enter a world where honor and chivalry matter more than any amount of money, where good triumphs over evil, and love conquers all.

Don't outgrow  your imagination, embrace it; don't let life chain you to a desk and turn you into a stuffy accountant or banker. Accept the challenge, rise to the call, and set out on your journey.Our world is a small one, but the world we imagine has no borders or limits. Take your first step to freedom.... this is your story.

-J. Hewitt